Ungrounded panel in a commercial building, but outlets tester shows that they're grounded

[Jordan_]

Hello, and excuse me if I use the wrong terms- I am not an electrician! I leased a new place for my shop and I'm trying to understand if my electrical system
Here is what I know:
-It's 3 phase 208v
-the ground and the neutral are bonded in the main breaker box under the meter
-there's no grounding bus in the newer panel and there's none of the outlets has a ground wire (only hot and neutral)
-when I plug in an outlet tester it shows that the outlet is grounded correctly
What am I missing here?

Thank you

 

[Dennis Alwon]

How are you plugging an outlet tester into a 2 wire receptacle?

I also never trust those tester..,.

If everything is in conduit then there is a ground at the box but unfortunately we cannot help with correcting the issue. You will need to contact a qualified electrician

 

[Jordan_]

I'm not trying to correct it myself just to understand if there's anything wrong there before I call an electrician!
The outlets are 3 wire outlets but only hot and neutral connected.
And yes everything is conduit

 

[LarryFine]

What am I missing here?

Thank you

As Dennis mentioned, metal conduit is perfectly acceptable for grounding in most installations, and the receptacles are grounded through their mounting means.

 

[Jordan_]

As Dennis mentioned, metal conduit is perfectly acceptable for grounding in most installations, and the receptacles are grounded through their mounting means.

Oh ok, so I guess my next question is if the metal conduit doesn't need to be connected to ground somewhere? and also If I have for example a big fan that will need to be hard wired direct to the panel then where it'll be connected to the ground?

 

[roger]

Oh ok, so I guess my next question is if the metal conduit doesn't need to be connected to ground somewhere? and also If I have for example a big fan that will need to be hard wired direct to the panel then where it'll be connected to the ground?

Everything will be connected through bonding jumpers, your electrician will be better able to show you on site.

Roger

 

[suemarkp]

You said ground and neutral are connected under the meter. That is what established grounding (which is an overload term performing multiple functions). The metallic conduits are your "ground wire" for all of your circuits. Some places like to pull a separate green or bare wire in the conduits to ensure grounding, but the NEC does not require that except for EMT conduits in wet locations.

 

[petersonra]

Some places like to pull a separate green or bare wire in the conduits to ensure grounding, but the NEC does not require that except for EMT conduits in wet locations.

Where is this in the code?

 

[Jordan_]

Things made clear for me. Thank you all

 

[Buck Parrish]

Where is this in the code?

You said ground and neutral are connected under the meter. That is what established grounding (which is an overload term performing multiple functions). The metallic conduits are your "ground wire" for all of your circuits. Some places like to pull a separate green or bare wire in the conduits to ensure grounding, but the NEC does not require that except for EMT conduits in wet locations.

I'm not doubting you. But Pete and I don't know where it's at in the code . I looked over in 358.10 - D - Perhaps you could enlighten us.

 

[suemarkp]

Where is this in the code?

I thought it was NEC, but looks like a WA only state rule (WAC 296-46B-358-012(2)). Hard to keep straight the origin of all the rules...

 

[Buck Parrish]

I thought it was NEC, but looks like a WA only state rule (WAC 296-46B-358-012(2)). Hard to keep straight the origin of all the rules...

Well it's not a bad idea, as most of us have pulled up pieces of emt that were corroded so much they fell apart. Ah oh ' the NFPA code officials are probably reading this. So look for it next year issue in the NEC.